1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lawn and garden tractor having a mower unit vertically movably attached to a tractor body, a grass catcher attached to the tractor body, a duct for transporting grass clippings cut by the mower unit to the grass catcher, and a blower unit for aiding the transport of grass clippings.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional lawn tractor of this type is exemplified by the mid-mount type lawn tractor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,315. This tractor includes a mower unit suspended from a tractor body through a link mechanism or the like. The mower unit has a housing extending transversely of the tractor body. with one end thereof projecting from a right side of the tractor body. A blower unit is fixed to a grass outlet formed in the projecting end of the housing.
In the above conventional construction, however, the center of gravity of the entire mower unit is offset transversely of the tractor body toward the projecting end because of the weight of the blower unit. Thus, the mower unit has an imbalance of weight transversely of the tractor body. During a grass cutting operation, the mower unit tends to dip at one side thereof, resulting in a grass cutting height varying transversely of the tractor body, and in unsteady vertical movement of the mower unit.
These inconveniences may be overcome by employing a construction in which the blower unit is supported by the tractor body instead of the mower unit, thereby to eliminate the imbalance of the mower unit due to the weight of the blower unit. Such a construction requires modifications in a positional relationship of the grass transporting duct to the grass outlet of the mower unit and the blower unit, and in a power transmitting structure from the engine to the mower unit and blower unit. These modifications must be effected without impairing performance or raising cost. For this purpose, it is necessary to seek a new lawn tractor construction, taking into account an arrangement and construction of the duct and blower unit collectively. Further, an efficient and simplified transmission mechanism is required for transmitting engine power to the mower unit and blower unit.